“It was his body we discovered in the building, riddled with bullets”, a statement from the Paris prosecutor said, a day after the pre-dawn raid. There was no immediate official confirmation.
Advertisement
Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said the identities of the dead are still being investigated, but that neither Abaaoud nor another fugitive, Salah Abdeslam, is in custody. A Belgian of Moroccan origin, Abaaoud was first identified by police as a wanted extremist after a gunbattle in eastern Belgium in January during a raid on a Daesh cell.
“It is now impossible to give the identify of those arrested, which is being verified”, Molins added.
Following is a list of a few of the attackers who died in the Friday attacks, as well as others central to the investigation.
One more suspect remains at large.
At least two suspects died in the raid, one male and one woman who had detonated a suicide vest.
“It is the entire country that’s been attacked”, Hollande told a gathering of French mayors.
Christian, a resident of Saint Denis’ rue de la République, told local French channel BFMTV that there was noise of gunfire and police fired shots into an apartment.
Police have cordoned off the area nearby, including a pedestrian zone lined with shops and 19th-century apartment buildings.
Saint-Denis is located near the Stade de France soccer stadium where three suicide bombers killed themselves and another pedestrian.
Another witness, Amine Guizani, said he heard explosions and automatic gunfire. “We knew (Hadfi) was in Syria”, Van Der Sypt said. “We’ve been told to lie on the floor and not go to the windows”. “Kalashnikovs. Starting again.” Riot police were clearing the streets early Wednesday, pointing guns at curious residents to move them off the roads. “It lasted from 4:20 until 5:30”.
It was only on November 16, three days after the Paris bloodbath, that “intelligence services of a country outside Europe indicated they had knowledge of his presence in Greece”, the minister said, without specifying which country. “Hundreds, definitely. There were maybe 10 explosions”. French kings were crowned and buried through the centuries in its famed basilica. Today it is home to a vibrant and very ethnically diverse population and sees sporadic tension between police and violent youths.
Islamic State – also known as Isil, Isis and Daish – has claimed responsibility for the strike.
Mohamed Abdeslam said the last time he saw his brothers was about a week ago.
Abaaoud had been implicated in the planning of a number of terrorist attacks and conspiracies in Western Europe before the Paris attacks. The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to police policy.
NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston reports that French authorities have been very anxious about a follow-on attack. France has ramped up its assault on militants in Syria. Paris prosecutors cautioned that the group of participants may have been even larger.
Military spokesman Col. Gilles Jaron said Thursday that French planes dropped about 60 bombs on six sites, and all the targets were Islamic State command centers or training sites.
In its English-language magazine, Islamic State said it will continue its violence and “retaliate with fire and bloodshed” for insults against the Prophet Muhammad and “the multitudes killed and injured in crusader airstrikes”.
Advertisement
An extension to emergency anti-terrorism powers is being considered by French lawmakers.
